Friday, July 4 - We had to do some serious fishing! We had 93 people coming out to the lake for a fish fry and we hadn’t caught any fish yet. We had people fishing all day long and cleaned lots of bluegill, perch, walleye and catfish. We fed everybody that night and then shot off some fireworks! I particularly enjoyed taking out a group of old ladies from Church at noon. We went out on the pontoon boat for about 35 minutes and they caught quite a few big bluegills and huge perch. They couldn’t comprehend letting the biggest and fattest fish go back into the water (perch over 13 inches) especially when we had so many people to feed. We intensively manage our own water and always harvest selectively to create a well-balanced, yet trophy fishery. Definitely looking forward to fishing with those gals again, they are just upbeat and HILARIOUS!

Saturday, July 5 - We decided to catch some more fish for another fish fry. This time we only had 65 to feed so it didn’t take nearly as long to gather up enough fresh fish. Catfish was the main dish tonight! IMHO nothing is better than eating deep fried 2 lb catfish from our lake.

Monday, July 7 - I had the privilege of fishing with Robin Wiegand from Sarasota, Florida and her father Lee Esslinger from eldrakeyosockwaville?, Iowa. Lee caught the first 3 fish, before Robin finally hooked up. She then went on a fish catching spree that was highlighted by a 4 lb rainbow trout that almost had her completely spooled before she finally was able to start recovering line.

July 13 and 14 - I spent these days at Bob Lusk's place in Sadler, Texas . He is the editor of Pond Boss Magazine. I definitely recommend every pond owner, waterfront owner, and fishermen who would like to learn about fish, weeds, and water to subscribe to this magazine, www.pondboss.com. We fished a bit at his place and caught huge bluegills, bass, and catfish!

Monday, July 28 - We had an early morning trip with Jake, his Grandmother Velda Winkler, and his friend Kyle Gunther. We met at Gander Mountain in Peoria at 7:30 am, but Kyle must have slept in, cause he didn’t arrive until quarter till 8! We then headed out to Fulton County to fish for walleye and perch. Velda started off the morning by landing a nice channel catfish with her very first cast. I had a feeling it was going to be a tough bite today due to the strong storms and heavy rainfall last night, and it was. The fish were not very aggressive, but we still managed to get some huge 13” perch, 6 walleyes, a couple nice largemouth, a catfish, some bluegills, and a smallmouth. Kyle had about a 20” smallmouth up to the boat, but it was never hooked, it just spit out the 6” perch when he got close enough to see the net.